July 1, 2004
Carl Levin
110 Michigan St NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2313
Senator Levin :
We are writing to you as members of the Colombia Support Network, Grand Rapids Chapter. Our organization has been in existence for 16 years and its headquarters are in Madison, WI. Recently we organized a chapter in Grand Rapids.
The goal of our organization is a change of the United States foreign policy towards Colombia that agrees with the principles of Colombia Support Network, which are:
peace with social justice in Colombia, a negotiated solution to the conflict, strengthening of civil society and non- alignment with any of the armed actors.
Highly reliable sources that our organization has in Colombia have informed us of some serious and disturbing developments, which we would like you to inquire about with the respective Colombian authorities. On Tuesday January 27, 2004 in the town of Canonigo, Bolivar State, troops of the Narino Battalion headquartered in the city of El Banco, Magdalena state, took into custody and disappear HOVANIS VEGAS -ATENCIO, JAIRO VILLALBAS -CAMPUSANO,NOLBERTO CAMPUZANO- ZULETA and OSNAIDER SOLANO- ZULETA who is 13 years old.
Hovanis Vegas and Jairo Villalbas were working with a sand filter used for filtering gold in the region. On a separate mission Nolberto Campuzano and Osnaider Solano 13 years old, were doing an errand for their family and were last seeing alive in the region when they were returning home around 11 a.m. in a place called Casa de Barro.
On January 30 a delegation of 29 inhabitants of the region went to look for Nolberto and Osnaider to find out that not only they but also other two other young men had also been disappeared, who were Jovanis and Jairo. On January 30 the same commission went to the town of Coco Tiquisio and spoke to a Captain Espitia who did not solve the situation. On January 31 the delegation of inhabitants went to talk to
the Captain again and he did not receive them. After leaving them for 4 hours standing on the street and when the members of the commission protested strongly, Captain Espitia finally came out to tell them that he had the 3 dead bodies and showed them the pictures. Captain Espitia did not allow them to see the corpses. The whereabouts or status of the 13-year-old boy Osnaider Solano-Zuleta is unknown.
This example shows once more the effects of the Democratic Security policies implemented by President Uribe which makes the civilian population of Colombia, particularly in the countryside, the main target of violence by all the armed actors.
We question the support that our government keeps providing for the government and the army of Colombia in spite of incidents like this and very serious criticisms by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations in Colombia. We would like very much for you to inquire about the serious violations of human rights committed by the Narino Battalion located in El Banco, Magdalena state, that Captain Espitia be investigated, that the whereabouts of the young boy are investigated and that justice be done in the dissapearance of the three young men described here.
cc CSN National office
